BHS Swimming wins overall title at KISD Invitational

The Belton High School Swim Team just keep pushing their way through the water and making headway towards 2014 with another solid performance at the Clements Boys and Girls Club Natatorium last Saturday.
Belton took home the overall team title in decisive fashion with a score of 634, 235 points higher than Waco Midway (399).
Belton’s girls swimming team wowed the masses in their impressive win over the 11-team field, while the boys finished a close second to Waco Midway.
The girls’ 400 points defeated second-place Georgetown, third-place Midway, fourth-place Wimberly, fifth-place Georgetown East View and sixth-place Harker Heights. To document the dominance, the second through sixth-place teams scored a combined 365.5 points.
Megan Nitcher captured first place in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard freestyle events, Samantha Pentico won the 100-yard backstroke and Margaret Murphy won the 100-yard breaststroke.
The events with Lady Tigers finishing in the top five were: 200-yard freestyle-Margaret Montgomery (third place, 2:09.16). 200-yard individual medley-Murphy (first place, 2:21.77) and Courtney Lamm (second place, 2:29.42). 50-yard freestyle-Nitcher (first place, 25.77), Carissa Basaldua (fourth place, 27.49) and Jessica Bonner (fifth place, 27.61). 100-yard butterfly-Natalie Hazelwood (second place, 1:06.59) and Lamm (third place, 1:07.87). 100-yard freestyle-Nitcher (first place, 57.22), Basaldua (second place, 59.91) and Bonner (third place 1:00.37). 500-yard freestyle-Montgomery (second place, 5:44.12) and Emily Soliz (fifth place, 5:55.98). 100-yard backstroke-Pentico (first place, 1:13.50) and Haley Taylor (fifth place, 1:13.62). 100-yard breaststroke-Murphy (first place, 1:10.34), Hazelwood (third place, 1:19.22), Savannah Bush (fourth place, 1:21.32) and Alayne Johnson (fifth place, 1:21.32).
The relay teams raced great as well. In the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Pentico, Nitcher, Murphy and Basaldua finished second with a time of 1:59.99. The team of Hazelwood, Johnson, Lamm and Mercedes Marcus finished third with a time of 2:04.32.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the Belton teams swept the top two spots as the team of Murphy, Basaldua, Nitcher and Katherine Hennessee won with a time of 1:47.52 and the team of Marcus, Bonner, Hazelwood and Johnson finished second with a time of 1:51.91.
In the 400-yard freestyle, the team of Hennessee, Bonner, Pentico and Montgomery claimed the top spot with a time of 4:04.90 and the team of Bush, Soliz, Lamm and Margueret Betbeze took fourth place with a time of 4:23.11.
The boys finished with 231 points, 69 points behind Waco Midway.
In the boys’ individual events, Troy Morrow won the 200-yard freestyle event, Jake Fitzwater was the runner-up in the 100-yard butterfly, Drew Fitzwater took third in the 500-yard freestyle and Andrew Alas finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke.
The events with Tigers’ swimmers finishing in the top five positions were: 200-yard freestyle-Morrow (first place, 1:53.01) and Drew Fitzwater (third place, 1:53.67). 50-yard freestyle-Alas (fourth place, 23.89). 100-yard butterfly-Jake Fitzwater (second place, 56.36). 100-yard freestyle-Morrow (third place, 52.28) and Brandon Smith (fourth place, 52.57). 500-yard freestyle-Drew Fitzwater (third place, 5:08.80) and Tristan Boss (fifth place, 5:26.65). 100-yard breaststroke-Eric Belcher (fourth place, 1:00.12). 100-yard breaststroke-Alas (third place, 1:07.84).
The boys’ relay teams also placed well. In the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Belcher, Alas, Boss and Jake Fitzwater finished second with a time of 1:49.02 and the team of Steven Weber, Martin Fluitt, Matthew Phillips and Casey Starnes finished eighth with a time of 2:01.77. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Morrow, Alas, Smith and Drew Fitzwater finished second with a time of 1:36.12 and the team of Phillips, Fluitt, Starnes and Noeh Varville finished 13th with a time of 1:52.00. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the team of Morrow, Smith, Drew Fitzwater and Michael McDonald finished second with a time of 3:32.94 and the team of Boss, Belcher, Weber and Jake Fitzwater finished fourth with a time of 3:43.70.
Other district participants in the meet were Midway (first in boys, third in girls), Harker Heights (sixth in girls, 13th in boys), Copperas Cove (seventh in girls and boys), Killeen (11th in girls, tied for 14th in boys), Killeen Ellison (eighth in girls, tied for 14th in boys) and Killeen Shoemaker (12th in boys).
The Belton swim teams will head to Corpus Christi for the Texas Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association Meet on Friday and Saturday.